Chapter 59 Consort Hui and Prince
With Yunyun diligently fishing and Baoqing conscientiously handling his duties, time slipped by and it became the thirty-seventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
All the princes have made good progress in recent years.
Baoqing accompanied the army on three expeditions against Galdan, and was given important positions each time. He accumulated a lot of military experience and made outstanding military achievements. In the first month of the lunar calendar, he also performed the sacrificial ceremony at the tomb of Emperor Taizu Shizong on behalf of Emperor Kangxi. He was valued by Emperor Kangxi, and Mingzhu also advised him on political affairs. He had plenty of political capital.
The third prince, Yinzhi, devoted himself to scholarship and was sent by Emperor Kangxi to compile books and write history. He achieved considerable success and was well-regarded among civil officials.
The other princes were also assigned some jobs, neither big nor small, and they were full of enthusiasm.
Emperor Kangxi was pleased with his sons' achievements and issued an edict with a wave of his hand: the two eldest sons would be promoted from Beile to Junwang, and the younger sons would be promoted to Beile in the same way.
After receiving the imperial decree and expressing his gratitude, Baoqing was left behind by Emperor Kangxi alone.
As for the reason, Bao Qing knows it perfectly well.
For the sake of offspring.
The Crown Prince married late, and Emperor Kangxi carefully selected his consort, Guarjia. They officially married in the thirty-fourth year of Kangxi's reign. Although they did not yet have a legitimate son, they had one or two sons born out of wedlock, so Kangxi did not have to worry too much about having offspring.
The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince also had a son last year, and Baoqing even went to their full-moon celebration.
Only Baoqing, as the eldest brother, married the earliest, but had the fewest offspring. Not only did he have no legitimate son, but he also had no sons in the household, only two daughters born to his wife.
Kangxi was initially able to remain calm, but seeing that Baoqing was already in her mid-twenties and still had no illegitimate sons or daughters in her household, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with the First Princess Consort.
The wife should manage the household affairs for the prince and ensure the continuation of the family line.
Baoqing is a prince, the kind with a title to inherit. What's the point of not having a son?
Even Mingzhu was secretly grumbling that the eldest prince was already twenty-six and still had no heir, and the morale of his subordinates was not very stable.
Baoqing was aware of all these troubles, but he kept them outside the mansion, preventing his wife from knowing.
Kangxi was silent for a while, then said with a hint of admonition, "You are not young anymore, you should think more about having children. If you need someone to serve you, I will arrange two concubines for you."
According to the rules, a prince can have one secondary consort, and a duke can have two.
However, after several years, Baoqing's household was still full of princesses. Emperor Kangxi wanted to appoint a concubine for him or ask Consort Hui to keep an eye out for her. But Baoqing personally went to Qianqing Palace and Yanxi Palace several times, so the matter was postponed.
Now that he has become a prince, Kangxi, not forgetting his original intention, once again thought of arranging a concubine for him.
“Your subject does not want to,” Baoqing never knew the meaning of euphemism and was direct with Kangxi, and he also had his own set of logic.
"Father, you're right to listen to your son. Having too many children isn't good. Look how much money we've spent on building our own residence outside the palace. Not to mention our younger brothers will grow up and marry their wives, which will be an even bigger expense. If I had many children, I would have to plan for them when they grow up, spending money and effort. That's not as good as having only one or two legitimate sons. In the future, all the family property will belong to them, and there will be no need for them to fight over it."
Emperor Kangxi squinted.
He always felt that Baoqing's words were directed at him.
But Baoqing looked sincere and had clear eyes, clearly showing that he genuinely thought this way and acted accordingly.
Recalling the fact that his relationship with the Crown Prince and his son had deteriorated in recent years, Kangxi never reflected on his own actions, but instead blamed the mistakes on Suo'etu and his other sons. He even threatened Baoqing, who was subtly challenging the Crown Prince, saying, "Oh, so according to you, I shouldn't have given you money to marry a wife and establish your own household, nor should I have promoted you to a higher rank. Instead, I should have left everything to the Crown Prince?"
Upon hearing this, Bao Qing immediately straightened his back, his face full of pride: "This title of yours is something I earned through my own hard work. All the credit is genuine and there is no exaggeration whatsoever."
The implication is...
He didn't try to take anything from the Crown Prince.
Kangxi: "..."
That's completely irrelevant.
It would be foolish of me to argue with Baoqing.
The familiar feeling of exhaustion made Kangxi give up on continuing to communicate with Baoqing, but he didn't want to let Baoqing off so easily. He pretended to be angry and said, "What kind of attitude is this? I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice. Did I make a mistake in giving birth to you? Weren't all those opportunities given to you by me? I will go to Yanxi Palace later and talk to Consort Hui to ask her how she raises her children."
Old ginger is spicier; Bao Qing's proud expression froze instantly.
He fears nothing but his mother's nagging.
Moreover, if you really think about it, his outrageous remarks were utterly contrary to the will of Heaven; even the Crown Prince never spoke to Kangxi like that.
Baoqing said shamelessly, "Father, it is the father's fault if the son is not taught properly, how can you blame Mother?"
Kangxi sneered: "I am the emperor. First comes the relationship between ruler and subject, then the relationship between father and son."
Bao Qing, ever flexible, said: "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. It is an ancestral rule that the empress dowager should not interfere in politics."
Emperor Kangxi said sarcastically, "It's too late to realize your mistake. The court is not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the inner palace. Prince Zhi, you should go back."
True to his word, Emperor Kangxi set off for Yanxi Palace that very night.
-
When Yun Jun received the eunuch's reply, she was a little puzzled. It wasn't a festival or a birthday, so why was the emperor coming to see her?
That being said, the necessary preparations still need to be made.
Lingzhi hurriedly put away the storybooks on the desk—Baoqing hadn't forgotten her mother even after leaving the palace, and often searched for new things.
Worried that these items wouldn't pass the palace gate inspection, Baoqing still personally delivered them each time.
It was obvious that the entire storybook contained illegal content, and the emperor was not to be allowed to see it.
Fuling was instructing the palace maids to prepare tea, snacks, and all sorts of fruits. They were already familiar with these, and everything was ready in no time.
As Emperor Kangxi sipped his perfectly chilled Biluochun tea, he glanced around and remarked, "Why haven't I seen that Persian cat that likes to sit on your lap today?"
Having spent so many years with Kangxi, Yunyun was quite relaxed and said unhurriedly, "Consort Liang made some new dried fish and took Yunduo away at noon. I reckon she'll be back before the palace gates are locked."
The Eighth Prince was the youngest among the princes who were conferred titles. In the palace, a son's status was determined by his mother's, and a mother's status was determined by her son. The son was conferred the title of Beile, but the mother was not well-regarded and was called a concubine without a title or rank. So Kangxi bestowed a title upon her and gave her the treatment of a concubine. However, there was no vacant palace in the palace, so Consort Liang still lived in Yanxi Palace.
It was simply moved from the side hall to the main hall at the back.
"The Eighth Prince is not bad," Kangxi said abruptly.
The Eighth Prince was her adopted son, and the fact that he was praised by Emperor Kangxi shows that she, as his adoptive mother, had done a good job raising him.
Yun Jun smiled and said, "Xiao Ba has been a thoughtful child since he was little, and he is also meticulous in his work. It would be great if he could share the Emperor's burdens."
Kangxi did not respond, but simply sipped his tea slowly.
We're all in our forties now, and the intense romance of our youth is long gone, replaced by the warmth of familiarity that comes from years of companionship.
When Emperor Kangxi visited the palaces of his high-ranking concubines, he would mostly just chat under the covers, talking about trivial matters in the palace and the recent situation of the princes, without much formality.
However, he remembered that he had important business at Yanxi Palace today.
Kangxi put down his teacup and turned the small sandalwood prayer beads on his wrist. "The First Consort became pregnant during the New Year. How many months pregnant is she now?"
Under normal circumstances, Emperor Kangxi did not pay attention to these trivial matters. The affairs of the princes' wives were mostly handled by the princes' birth mothers or the Empress Dowager. It was only because Baoqing had so few children that he paid extra attention to her.
Yunyun smiled and said, "It's been nine months already. The imperial physicians examine me every day and say that the pregnancy looks good. I'm just waiting for the full term to give birth."
Kangxi hummed in agreement and continued to silently turn the prayer beads, and the atmosphere in the hall quieted down.
Yunyun knew he had more to say, so she didn't urge him. She simply picked up her teacup and took a small sip.
A palace maid came up and changed the tea.
"Pay close attention to this year's general election," Kangxi said with an unquestionable tone.
Yunyun understood; this meant that Baoqing was to be granted the title of concubine.
She had been protecting Baoqing for so long, and if she refused again, the Emperor would probably be displeased. Therefore, she readily agreed: "Your Majesty, I will watch over things together with my two younger sisters, Consort De and Consort Yi."
After the Imperial Noble Consort passed away, her share was naturally transferred to the Noble Consort. At that time, the three concubines still managed the palace affairs together, with clear division of responsibilities, and they lived in peace.
However, the Imperial Concubine's health was not good, and she unfortunately passed away before the thirty-third year of Kangxi's reign, which made it difficult to arrange palace affairs.
The Imperial Noble Consort and the Noble Consort both gained an advantage over them because of their rank and family background.
But now that there's no one at the top, the four consorts are the highest-ranking people in the palace, and the part that the Noble Consort was in charge of has been redistributed.
As the head of the four consorts, she had ample experience in managing palace affairs. In addition, Baoqing was highly regarded by Emperor Kangxi in the previous dynasty. Emperor Kangxi was the type to give those he valued more responsibilities and tasks. With all these factors combined, she was assigned the most palace affairs.
However, she was usually busy with the allocation of supplies for each palace and the reward, punishment and appointment of palace maids and eunuchs. Baoqing had already gotten married, so she handed over the matter of the imperial concubine selection to Consort De and Consort Yi—they both still had unmarried young sons.
Seeing that she understood his meaning, Kangxi nodded slightly and said, "Make the arrangements."
Chun Chun slept soundly. The next day, after helping Kangxi change into his court robes, Yun Jun went to find Consort De and Consort Yi to discuss the imperial selection.
-
Yonghe Palace.
Consort De was having breakfast at a round sandalwood table in the main hall, while the Fourth Prince's wife, dressed in a flowerpot-shaped dress, stood upright beside the table, holding a bowl of warm lotus seed soup, ready to serve her at any moment.
A nimble young eunuch entered and bowed respectfully: "Your Majesty, may you be blessed. Someone from Yanxi Palace has come to deliver a message that Consort Hui will be arriving soon."
Most of the concubines in the palace had small appetites and could not eat much in one meal. Consort De's leisurely dining was only to set an example for the Fourth Prince's wife.
However, she always maintained a good public image and would never openly embarrass the Fourth Prince's wife, so she waved her hand and said, "Take it away."
Seeing that Consort De was about to get up, Fourth Princess Consort moved her legs, which were numb from standing, and quickly stepped forward to help her.
Consort De avoided the Fourth Prince's hand and said kindly, "Consort Hui and I have palace affairs to discuss. It's no fun for a junior like you to be here. You should go back first."
Seemingly oblivious to Consort De's disdain, the Fourth Princess stood tall and straight, her face bearing the same unchanging gentle smile: "Then I'll take my leave."
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